Carter Demands DHS Resume Border Reports to Congress

Press Release

The Department of Homeland Security would be required to resume reports to Congress on the operational control of the border under legislation co-sponsored today by House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter (TX-31).

"The American people deserve to know the security status of their borders," says Carter. "But since the status of the borders is in sharp contrast with this Administration's false claims that our borders are secure, they have chosen to simply cease their reports on operational control. This not only constitutes passive dishonesty, it is endangering the national security of the United States for purely partisan politics by denying necessary security data for Congressional oversight of border conditions."

The General Accounting Office reported in February, 2011, that the Border Patrol had reported achieving operational control of just 44 percent of the southwest border, admitting the majority of the border remains unsecured -- in stark contrast to President Obama's rhetoric that the border region has "never been safer." In response to criticism of those remarks, the DHS 2012-2016 Strategic Plan for the Border no longer makes reference to operational control.

Carter today co-sponsored H.R. 6025, the Mandatory Operational Control Reporting and Performance Measures Act, by Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ). The bill requires the Department to resume reporting operational control statistics. In addition, the bill would require reporting of critical information that would put the much relied-upon apprehension statistics in perspective.